Contribution of chronic conditions to the disability burden across smoking categories

In a new article in PlosOne, Renata Yokota and colleagues looked into the contribution of chronic conditions to the disability burden across smoking categories in middle-aged adults (40-60 years) in Belgium.

Using data from the Belgian Health Interview Surveys of 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2008, binomial additive hazards models were fitted separately for different smoking categories adjusted for gender.

An increasing trend in the disability prevalence was observed across smoking categories in men (never = 4.8%, former (cessation ≥2 years) = 5.8%, daily light = 7.8%, daily heavy = 10.7%) and women (never = 7.6%, former (cessation ≥2 years) = 8.0%, daily light = 10.2%, daily heavy = 12.0%). Musculoskeletal conditions showed a substantial contribution to the disability burden in men and women across all smoking categories. Other important contributors were depression and cardiovascular diseases in never smokers; depression, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes in former smokers (cessation ≥2 years); chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases in daily light smokers; cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases in men and depression and diabetes in women daily heavy smokers.

Citation: Yokota RTdC, Nusselder WJ, Robine J-M, Tafforeau J, Deboosere P, Van Oyen H (2016) Contribution of Chronic Conditions to the Disability Burden across Smoking Categories in Middle-Aged Adults, Belgium. PLoS ONE 11(4): e0153726. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153726